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Single mum wins $108,000 from RIAA

And that's just her legal fees

Disabled single mother Tanya Andersen has won over $100,000 in legal fees
after fighting the false accusation that she illegally shared music files.

Andersen's lawyers were awarded costs and interest by a US Federal Court. The
Recording Industry Association of America had reportedly offered $30,000 then
$60,000 before being ordered to settle the full amount.

The RIAA alleged four years ago that Andersen and her eight year-old daughter
were downloading gangster rap songs to their home computer.

The woman offered to let investigators examine her PC but they declined and
said they would prosecute unless paid several thousand dollars.

"'You're going to have to pay us, or this won't go away,'" she claims she was
told, according to an interview in Business Week.

Eventually Andersen was served with papers and the court case began. She was
defended on a no-win no-fee basis by Seattle lawyer Lory Lybeck.

"I said to myself, either she's a good actor and a good liar, or what they
have done to her is really crummy," said Lybeck.

During the case Andersen submitted her PC to the music industry legal team
for analysis. After the analysis was complete the RIAA refused to release the
report, but was forced to by the court. It stated that there was no evidence of
piracy.

The court gave the RIAA until 1 June last year to produce evidence to back up
its case. When the deadline came the RIAA dropped the case and promised no more
action.

However, Andersen was so incensed that she launched a
legal
case of her own against the record companies and the investigators they use.

"The RIAA is fighting very hard to make sure that [Andersen's case] never
reaches a jury," said Heidi Li Feldman, a professor at Georgetown University's
law school. "The minute this reaches a jury, they will have to think about
settling."